Release Date:
There are so many stories out there of how people come to farming – whether it’s first generation, or intergenerational. The fascinating yet frustrating thing is these stories are almost all different. There doesn’t seem to be a simple, tried and true path to farming. Frustrating too, because the tips and strategies of the ‘how’ are hard to hear and tease out. The crew tries to do just that, focusing on finding the high-level nuances of those strategies, while attempting to build a list of tips for those stuck in the complexity of doing something that feels hard on a good day.
A special thank you to the many, many farmers and farm workers who sat down to share their stories with us. One of the hardest choices of the season was choosing which made it into the show. Thank you again, and to those reading, listen to your farmers – their stories are ones of perseverance, strength and resilience, and certainly sources of great hope.
LINKS
- Tackling Transitions: Informing a New Food Systems Planning Strategy for Ontario / IG @farmerclairesfoodfun
- Crocus Hill Garden / IG: @crucushillgarden
- Wildwood Farm
IG: @chigarden2015 / FB: Chi Garden
Other Episodes in this series
Episode 1: Why Land Access?
Episode 2: What’s the deal with Québec?
Episode 4: Farming on ‘Public’ Lands – Highs and Lows
View all episodes in:
contributors
Aliyah Fraser
Co-Host/Producer
Aliyah is a Kitchener-based farmer who owns and operates a quarter acre market garden called Lucky Bug Farm on rented land in Waterloo Region where she grows a variety of produce for a small CSA program. The farm operates within the Haldimand Tract in Kitchener, Ontario and is on the traditional territory of the Mississauga, Anishnabeg, Attiwonderonk (neutral) and Haudenoshaunee peoples. She imagines a food system where more people have access to ecologically grown food, where there is less waste and where there’s a better understanding of the labour it takes to get food from the farm to the table. Aliyah also has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies in Urban planning from the University of Waterloo. She believes that food and housing are human rights. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her partner Thomas and cat Frankie.
luckybugfarm.com | @luckybugfarm
Madeline (Maddie) Marmor
Co-Host/Producer
Maddie is a landless farmer born in downtown Toronto. She has been farming for the past 8 years on farms throughout Ontario and has grown food on the current and traditional lands of the Houdensaunee, Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk, Mississauga, Odawa, Wendake-Nionwentsïo, Petun, Saugeene – Ojibiway nations. Over the years she has come to recognize the privilege and political significance of farming on stolen land, knowledge which has informed her dedication to food sovereignty and agroecology. She is an active member of the National Farmers Union, sits on the North American Nyéléni Coordination and accompanies systems change in food spaces as an adult education facilitator.
Stuart Oke
Co-Host/Producer
Stuart is a young farmer from Eastern Ontario who, alongside his partner Nikki, owns and operates Rooted Oak Farm, a 12 acre organic vegetable and cut flower farm. After years of renting land Rooted Oak in 2020 relocated to Eastern Ontario, and the traditional territory of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudensaunee and Oneida Peoples. In addition to loving food and taking pride in growing food that sustains people, the farm was founded on the idea that farming is a political act, one capable of creating great change.
www.rootedoak.ca | @rootedoakfarm
Claire Perttula
Guest
Claire Perttula (she/her) started farming in 2017 and worked on organic vegetable and meat farms in the Kawartha Lakes region of Ontario for several years. Working with cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, and horses, running market booths and helping with CSA drop-offs, Claire really found a love for farming. Currently, she manages a 2-acre community farm in Scarborough, Ontario and coordinates a staff team working on agriculture training programs and food justice projects in the neighbourhood.
Claire is also passionate about food policy and has a masters degree in public policy, specializing in economic and environmental policy, and is a PhD student at York University researching farmer-led policy and planning frameworks around the farm succession crisis.
WS: Tackling Transitions: Informing a New Food Systems Planning Strategy for Ontario
IG: @farmerclairesfoodfun
Julie Maxwell
Guest
Julie Maxwell is the current Youth President of the National Farmers Union. She runs Crocus Hill Garden, a small CSA vegetable farm on Treaty 6 Territory in West-Central Saskatchewan, adjacent to her parents’ conventional grain farm.
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